Targeting cognitive resilience through prebiotics: a focused perspective

This perspective article is a product of the work of an expert group within the Prebiotic Task Force convened by the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe), a non-profit organization that brings together experts from academia, industry and public service to catalyse nutrition science for public benefit. An expert group was conceived in October 2023 to discuss the evidence base on the use of prebiotics to promote cognitive functioning, with a focus on highlighting knowledge gaps and proposing a list of recommendations to guide this specific area of research forward. To address this, we evaluated existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses of human intervention studies that examine the effects of prebiotics on cognitive functioning. These are predominantly conducted in healthy participants under basal conditions and have, to date, revealed limited effects. In this perspective, we propose that prebiotics should be investigated as agents to promote cognitive resilience by testing their effects on cognitive performance under certain cognition-taxing factors that individuals encounter across their lifespan. These include stress, poor sleep outcomes, sedentary behaviour, and unhealthy dietary patterns, all of which have been shown to be associated with altered microbiome and impact global cognition or specific cognitive domains. In addition, we recommend identifying vulnerable populations that are either sub-clinical or that struggle chronically or periodically with one or more cognition-taxing factors, to better uncover the boundary conditions for prebiotic effectiveness. By broadening the scope of research to include diverse populations and challenging conditions in daily life or experimental settings, we can expand our understanding of the role of prebiotics not only in cognitive health or impairment, but also as potential preventative agents that may promote cognitive resilience during aging and in response to various lifestyle-related challenges.